Goa fishermen's union threatens to disrupt BRICS summit

Panaji: A fishermen's association in Goa has threatened to disrupt the upcoming BRICS summit in Goa, if a proposed satellite port in Betul village in south Goa is not scrapped and traditional homes of fishermen, facing demolition, saved by the state government.

"We will disrupt the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) summit if our demands are not met. The satellite port will destroy the fishing community and our livelihood. They are taking fishermen and traditional coastal communities of Goa for granted and imposing anti-fishermen projects on Goa's fragile coastal ecology," the Unions general secretary Olencio Simoes has said in a statement issued here.

The villages are at risk of demolition due to coastal regulation zone violations. The two-day BRICS summit is expected to be held in Goa on October 15.